Sign composing means



Feb. 25, 1941. w H, ROGERS 2,232,732

SIGN COMPOSING MEANS Filed Dec. 25, 19157 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 5 IGN COMPOS ING MEANS Filed Dec. 23, 1937 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 1941- w. H. ROGERS SIGN COMPOSING MEANS Filed Dec. 25, 1937 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 WITH THI C (LLC- W. H. ROGERS SIGN COMPOSING MEANS Feb. 25, 1941.

5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Dec. 25. 19257 I LIIII 11/ l l I J Fuz D II

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MIOID|E R|N TING. by

P IN LITH Patented Feb. 25, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 5 Claims.

This invention. relates to the composition of characters and more particularly to individual character units bearing indicia or signs such as alphabetical characters, numerals, symbols and the like and arranging of the said units to form words, sentences, ornamental designs or other types of composition.

Heretofore, individual alphabetical and other characters have been placed on supporting members to hold them for the purpose of forming units capable of being arranged one with another for producing designs and composition. The composition of characters is transferred to another support by methods well known in the art.

One well known method of transfer is printing from characters commonly known as type. In this method a rectangular prismatic shaped body of metal is constructed to hold the raised printable character. A group of such type characters are correctly positioned in combination with each other so that the indicia may be printed onto another surface by the use of printing ink. This method of printing from metal type is so well known it needs no further explanation.

Another well known method of printing which is now extensively used in the art involves the use of plates. However, during the preparation of such printing plates, individual metal type units with raised printable characters are extensively used to form the design or composition which is applied to the printing plates.

In such instances, after the arrangement of type is completed, it is usual to place the composed type in some form of a printing press. apply ink to the face of the raised characters, and make a print on to paper or other suitable material. The design of the arranged characters thus printed on another support which is composed of sheet material is conveniently handled and can be placed before a camera and photographed to copy the characters thereon. The photograph is then used to produce the printable image on a printing plate.

Another method of arranging printable characters suitable for printing from metal plates is to use individual characters on units of sheet material. Uisually these units are separately placed and fastened to a paper or card background in order to hold them so that they may be photographed on to sensitized metal surfaces for the "purpose of forming printing plates. The advantages to be derived by the use of design characters on flat sheet material as distinguished from the usual raised metal type become apparent when it is taken into consideration that it is necessary to transfer the design supported.

by the metal type to a flat sheet material such as paper by the use of ink and a printing press before it can be used for many of the photo-reproduction methods. The use of metal type in such processes consumes unnecessary time and labor and requires expensive machinery and metallic type units without which good printing cannot be produced.

Prior to this invention, suggestions have been made concerning the use of characters printed on sheet material in unit form although all of the units thus far proposed require much time and skill in order to use them in a satisfactory manner. It has been found to be extremely difficult to space correctly the individual characters which have heretofore been suggested and to maintain them in alignment especially when composing with small-sized letters. Prior to this invention specially designed structures have been found necessary to assist in the arrangement of the units and to hold them in aligned relation to each other. Such spacing and holding structures have taken the form of separate and independent devices which are in no way a part of the unit. The use of separate aligning devices is objectionable since additional means must be handled and their use becomes particularly inconvenient in composing a plurality of characters.

The present invention has for its purpose the provisions of improved character or composing unit structure and methods of use and therefore an object of this invention is to provide improved means whereby the difiiculties pertaining to composition by composing units formed on sheet material are removed.

An object of this invention is to providean improved means of assembling, spacing, holding, aligning and fastening together individual character composing units bearing alphabetical, numerical and ornamental indicia for the purpose of forming words, sentences and ornamental designs suitable for photo-mechanical reproduction.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved method of holding together or interlocking units of sheet material such as paper, card, sheet metal, rubber, Cellophane or other cellulose substances with letters of the alphabet or other signs printed or in any other manner placed thereon so that the signs can be copied and then used for making intelligible compositions.

Another object of this: invention is to provide an improved method of holding together units of sheet material with letters of the alphabet or other signs printed or in any other way placed thereon so that the characters can be copied and used in making display signs, motion picture titles, name plates and the like.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved means for holding together separate units of sheet material bearing indicia or signs in properly spaced relationship so that when photographed by a suitable camera onto printing plates they can be used for printing by methods known in the art.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved means for composing printable characters for making printing plates by photoengravlng or other photo-methods used in the graphic arts.

A further object of my invention is to provide improved methods and means for producing copy or reproduction sheets of alphabetical, numerical and ornamental characters in adjusted alignment from which a photograph can be made and used for signs, advertising display, "copy for photo-mechanical reproduction and photographic models.

A further object of this invention is to provide improved methods and means for the fabrication of a character-bearing or composing unit of sheet material which can be grouped with other character-bearing units to form lines of composed indicia suitable for use with known methods of printing by photography or photographic, mechanical or chemical transfer, the means for holding, spacing, aligning and fastening one unit with another being incorporated with and a part of the unit itself.

A further object of this invention is to provide improved means and a method of assembling, spacing, holding, aligning and fastening together alphabetical characters or other signs of a printable nature to form words, sentences and ornamental designs or other indicia suitable for use as printing plates.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved composing unit having a sign or an area, a sign supporting medium, a handle portion and binary means positioned in spaced relationship with the particular sign or character for the purpose of spacing the character or sign from the sign of another composing unit when a plurality of units are overlapped in staggered relationship.

Other objects of my invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings referred to herein wherein:

Fig. 1 discloses a front view of an improved composing unit;

Fig. 2 discloses an assembly of a plurality of the improved composing units in overlapped and staggered relationship;

Fig. 3 discloses a side view of the overlapped and staggered composing units;

Fig. 4 discloses a front view of an improved composing unit designed to be aligned in a curved line of composition;

Fig. 5 discloses an assembly of a plurality of the composing units positioned on a curved line of composition;

Fig. 6 discloses an assembly of the improved composing units secured in alignment by hand;

Figs. 7, ll, 17, 20, 23 and 25 disclose a front view of improved composing units having projecting means for aiding in aligning-a plurality of the units;

Fig. 8 discloses a side view of the improved composing unit shown in Fig. 7;

Figs. 9, 13, 19, 22, 24, 26, 27 disclose front views of the assembly of a plurality of improved composing units having projecting spacing means;

Figs. 3, 10, 15 and 16 disclose side views of assemblies of a plurality of composing units;

Fig. 12 discloses a side view of the improved composing unit shown in Fig. 11;

Fig. 14 discloses a rear view of the assembly shown in Fig. 13;

Fig. 18 discloses a section taken on line l8-l8 of Fig. 17;

Fig. 21 discloses a section taken on line 2 i- 2l of Fig. 20;

Figs. 28 and 31 disclose front views of improved composing units provided with sign spacing indicating means;

Figs. 29, 32, 33 and 35 disclose front views of the assembly of a plurality of improved composing units having sign spacing-indicating means;

Figs. 30 and 34 disclose front views of improved composing units provided with sign spacing indicating means and attachable and detachable arresting and interlocking means;

Figs. 36 and 37 disclose side views of a plu rality of overlapped composing units from which the handle portions have been removed;

Figs. 38, and 39 disclose signs positioned on an individual background;

Figs. 40, 41 and 42 disclose the details of a sign having a raised surface;

Fig. 43 discloses an improved composing unit having an area for mounting a sign having an individual background;

Figs. 44, 45 and 46 disclose various types and mounting of signs on individual backgrounds;

Fig. 4'7 discloses an end view of a plurality of overlapped lines of composing units;

Fig. 48 discloses a front view of a plurality of overlapped lines of composing units;

Fig. 49 discloses an improved composing unit for use with inclined signs; and

Fig. 50 discloses an individual character which is applicable to the improved composing units.

By referring to Fig. 1 an alphabetical character or other sign I0 is printed on or in some other way applied to the supporting member II which in this figure is shown to be a rectangularshaped piece of sheet material. It will be noted that the supporting member II is relatively larger than the character ill which it supports, the character or design which is in this instance a letter of the alphabet l0 being close to the edge I2 of the support H. Only a small portion of the support is used as a background for the character ID, the remaining portion being adapted to hold, align and space the character in relation to other characters on their respective supporting members, when placed together in an overlapping position as is shown in Fig. 2. The character-bearing support I I can be made of any suitable sheet material which may be opaque, transparent or semi-transparent as well as dark or light colored material. When the character itself is dark, the portion of the support immediately under the character and acting as a background for it, is light-colored and can be opaque, transparent or semi-transparent, but when the character is of a light color the background portion is made of dark-colored material. White paper or card material can be used to construct the. supporting members II with a black character printed or otherwise placed thereon, and it is within the contemplation of this invention to employ black paper or card material with a white character similarly placed thereon. The relation of the color of the character to its background will thus be such that there will be sufficient contrast between the character and its supporting background to enable a copy to be made for printing purposes. When either the background or the sign is formed of transparent or translucent material, the composing unit may be employed for contact or projection printing on photo-sensitized surfaces.

Paper and card material have been mentioned as suitable materials for the construction of the supporting members I I upon which the character is held but I do not wish to limit myself to this material for sheet metal, Cellophane, cellulose acetate or other cellulose derivative, fibre sheet plastic, resinous material or other sheetlike materials can be used. I also contemplate using two or more different materials and incorporating them together to form a character-bearing unit such, for example, as a unit having the body of the supporting member formed of one material, the face portion immediately underlying the character formed of a different material and the character formed of a material difierent from the other parts. This forms a unitary combination of different materials each of which is specially selected to function more efficiently for the individual part of the composing unit for which it is employed.

Figs. 2 and 3 illustrate a plurality of individual character-bearing units which are positioned with other like units to form a word. It will be noted that the character-bearing units 20 to 21, inclusive, are overlapped in staggered relationship and that the indicia area 15 is associated on a portion or adjacent to the portion of each of the members which is not in an overlapped relationship. Each of the individual composing units which go to make up the word or sentence comprises a backing or supporting portion and a character or other sign indicia adjacent to one end of the backing member as is described. At least one edge of the backing member is formed parallel to the orienting base of the character or indicia so that when a plurality of the units are placed in overlapped relationship with their edges placed in line, the characters on each of the individual members will be correctly aligned to form the desired line of composition as is shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 6 discloses a plurality of the overlapped composing units formed in spaced and aligned order by orienting the units in the hand by means of their elongated edges.

Each of the backing or supporting members I l is of such width as to accommodate the size of characters or indicia which is desirable to use in the line of composition. The width of the backing members is dependent upon the relative size of the characters and in addition, the backing member is of such length that when a plurality of character-bearing units are placed in overlapped and staggered relationship a portion of each of the backing members of the units will be available for securing together the overlapped units. An important feature of this invention resides in the fact that the individual backing or supporting members of the units are of such length that when they are grouped in overlap- .ping relationship they will form an aligning The portion of each unit which is not in overlapped relationship is represented by reference numeral l5 of Fig. 2 whereon is located the character designated by l6 or this area may be unoccupied if spacing units are desired. When the units are grouped as indicated in Fig. 3 the indicia on each of the units appears in a line broadly designated by reference numeral I l of Fig. 2. The direction of the line of composed characters described appears as a straight line, It'is apparent that as many indicia containing or composing units as are needed may be grouped together to make the line of composition of any desired length. Blank members may be inserted in the overlapped group of composing units in order toincrease the space between the words and characters. The additional length of the backing and supporting members of the units is provided for use in holding the units together which may be accomplished by holding the overlapped group of members in the hand until they are secured by the use of adhesive or other suitable means.

As is shown in Fig. 1 the alphabetical character or sign supporting member I l is fabricated from sheet material and is of a rectangular shape having an edge out on a straight line which serves as a directionally-aligning means. Another important feature of my invention is the formation of the aligning means in the direction and parallel to the line of grouped character units which comprise the desired line of composition. Therefore, it will be apparent that if the line of characters, when grouped together to form words, sentences or other indicia, is required to be in a straight-lined direction, the aligning means will be a straight-lined aligning member. It is also a part of this invention to use character-bearing units suitable for curved-line composition and for these units the aligning means comprises a curved-line aligning member fabricated on or in each unit parallel to the curved line of the desired line of composition.

' The construction of a single unit having a curved aligning means is shown in Fig. 4 wherein 3U designates the backing and supporting member and 3| represents the character or sign. Edges 32 and 35 are formed on a curved line which is parallel to the desired line of characters. Fig. 5 discloses the curved aligning edges of two composing units 33 and 34 placed in overlapped and aligned position so that the characters form an arcuate line of composition.

The directionally-lined aligning means, illustrated in the drawings in conjunction with the indicia-bearing members, is formed by the upper and lower edges of the character support formed in lines parallel to each other and parallel to the direction the character thereon is intended to take when grouped with other character units with similar aligning means by placing them in an overlapped relationship and keeping all of the correctly formed edges superposed.

Overlapping character-bearing units have been used prior to my invention and specially designed devices which are separate and distinct from the units themselves have also been used to hold and align them, but so far as I am aware the overlapping portions have been so small as to be negligible and useless to hold and align the cards or units in the manner that has been set forth above.

I have discovered as part of this invention that by lengthening in the direction of the composed line, the portion of the character-bearing unit used for overlapping or underlapping with adjacent units when used in grouped relationship,

I form a new and useful holding, aligning and spacing member, which can be used alone as such, or have therewith incorporated other members for a like purpose. A directionally-lined member so constructed forms a holding, aligning and spacing means requiring no separate holding and aligning structure such as frames or other supports specially designed to hold the composing units in spaced and aligned relationship. My improved character-bearing unit is complete in itself having holding, spacing and aligning means in combination with and a part of the unit itself, suitable for forming lines of composed words, sentences or other indicia. by using the hands alone, as is shown in Fig. 6. However, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to this method of use and it is to be understood that mechanical or other devices can be used to place the composing units together without departing from the scope of this invention, as is defined in the claims.

' The lengths of the aligning members vary according to the size of the character wherewith they are incorporated and also the length of the line of composition to be formed by the grouped character units. For a long line of composition I use a long aligning member, i. e. one having an elongated handle portion, and for a short line of composition, a member having a shorter handle portion is used. I do not limit myself to any maximum length for the member and the minimum length is governed by the fact that it will not effectively operate if too short and if the length of the aligning means is further shortened the character units could not be kept in the line of direction intended without resorting to other external aligning means than the hand in which they are held. Therefore, it will be clear that when this directionally-lined aligning means and the transferable design or alphabetical character are correctly coupled together by the supporting member a unit combination will be formed, for the purposes set forth.

In order that the character-bearing or composing units herein above described may be more easily positioned when being grouped together so that the characters thereon may be quickly, accurately and properly spaced with relation to each other to form lines of letters, words, sentences or other indicia, I use a spacing or stop means which is also a part of this invention. The stop means is placed on or is incorporated with the handle or other portion of the characterbearing unit as is indicated by the various modifications of the spacing devices shown in the drawings. The stops or sign space adjusting members herein described are essentially binary in that they have two parts with indicating properties which function together to indicate the outer boundaries of the area required to display the sign configuration when composed with other composing units in line formation. One part of the binary spacing means is adjusted to one edge of the space area occupied by the sign or other character or blank space and the other part of said binary spacing means is adjusted to the opposite edge of the said area. This combination of elements is adapted to indicate the position or arrest the movement of the overlap ping adjacent composing units to produce correct spacing for sign configurations of various sizes like that which is required when alphabetical characters are arranged together to form words, sentences and the like.

The stop member designated by reference numeral 40 in Figs. '7, 8, 9 and 10 serves to space the character-bearing units 4| as they are placed in overlapping position so that the line of composition 42 formed by the characters 43 is properly spaced. The stop members 40 are preformed as shown in the drawings and can be hited to project above the surface of the characterbearing units in the form of tongues or the like. The edge 44 of the composing unit opposite the handle portion 46 is placed in abutting relationship with the base of the tongue or projecting member, as is indicated by 45 in Fig. 10. By properly placing the location of the pre-formed tongue in respect to the particular size and character of the indicia or sign, an overlapped group of the units, when placed in abutting relationship, will form the desired line of composition.

Figs. 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 disclose a similar binary arrangement of tongue and abutting members. As will be observed, the tongue 50 is pre-formed in the handle portion 5| of the aligning and character-bearing units 52. In arranging a group of character-bearing units together, the tongue is lifted and the adjacent unit is allowed to slide between the lifted tongue and the material of the support from which it was formed till its movement is arrested and its edge 53 reaches the position 54 where the tongue is attached to its supporting member. The tongue portion also helps to hold one unit to another and if made of a substantial length such as is shown in the figures the units when grouped together will not easily slip over the stop members and cover up the character or the character area or the space area on the units. Fig. 16 discloses the tongues 50 bent back upon the units 52. This serves to fasten the units together more securely so that they will be maintained in properly aligned and spaced positions.

It is apparent that as many indicia contain ing members as are desirable may be grouped together to make the line of composition of a desired length. Blank members 41 and 58 may be inserted in the overlapped group so that a space will appear between the characters as is shown in Figs. 9 and 13. The blank spacing units are so constructed that greater spaces can be inserted between the characters when grouped together than that which can be produced by the character-bearing units themselves.

Figs. 1'7, 18 and 19 disclose a character-bearing unit 60 having a pressed or struck projection 6| positioned opposite the handle portion of the unit. Edge 62 of an overlapping composing unit is arrested by the stop or projection Bl as is represented by reference numeral 65, so that the character areas bearing characters 63 are properly exposed and the characters form an aligned and spaced group of signs. Figs. 20, 21 and 22 disclose a character-bearing or composing unit 10 having a projection H which may be formed integrally with the unit by moulding or the like or attached thereto by well known means. The projections are positioned on the backside of the handle portion of unit 10 and serve to arrest the edge 12 of an overlapping composing unit, as is represented in Fig. 22.

The binary arrangement of the spacing means disclosed above relative to Figs. .7 to 22, inclusive, comprises an arresting means associated with a unit which cooperates with an edge or other portion of a second unit. The modification disclosed in Figs. 23 to 27, inclusive, embodies a binary spacing arrangement which includes an interlocking means in combination. As will be observed in Figs. 23 and 24 a tab or projection 80 is formed at one end 8| of a character-bearing unit 82. An aperture 83 is provided through which a tab or projection of an overlapping unit may be positioned. When the tab is placed so that the edge 8| is adjacent the edge 86 of the aperture of an overlapping unit, the characters 84, character areas and blank spaces will be properly aligned and spaced to form a line of composition 85. A similar composing unit comprising a binary spacing and adjusting means is disclosed in Figs. 25 to 27, inclusive. In Fig. 25 a tab 90 is positioned adjacent the characterbearing area 9| of a composing unit 92. A series of apertures 93 is positioned within the body of the composing unit and extend into the handle portion 94 of the unit 92. Figs. 26 and 27 disclose different ways of assembling a plurality of the units disclosed in Fig. 25. As will be observed, the letters may be spaced various distances apart by inserting the tab 90 in the different apertures of the series 93. For example, in Fig. 26, the letters 95 are spaced relatively close together by placing the tab in the aperture most closely positioned with respect to the character. In Fig. 27, the tab is placed in the aperture at the opposite end of the series which results in the characters of the line of composition being spaced further apart. This broad means of adjusting the spacing is extremely useful for purposes of justifying the lines of composition and in addition serves as a means for interlocking the individual units in their adjusted positions. This interlocking spacing means also serves as another aligning means for the characters and may be used either with or without the handle portion for aligning a plurality of the units.

In addition to the binary spacing and interlocking arrangements disclosed above, it frequently becomes necessary to employ visual indicating means for adjusting the spacing and alignment with great precision. For this reason, it is convenient to employ reference indicia of a binary character which may take the form of visual indicators or apertures. Fig. 28 discloses a composing unit I06 having a series of parallel reference lines or elements lUl positioned on the bottom thereof which may extend from beneath the character in the character area into the handle portion. By placing an edge I02 of an overlapping unit in contact with a selected reference line the characters may be properly aligned and spaced, as is disclosed in Fig.- 29. Due to the fact that the reference lines extend into the character area as Well as the handle portion, they may be used for justifying letter signs which appear in the line of composition which would be otherwise difiicult to space with precision. A somewhat similar visual indicating arrangement is disclosed in Figs. 30 to 33, inclusive, in which an aperture H formed in composing units I II is matched or registered with one of a plurality of similar apertures disclosed in Figs. 30 and 32 or with reference indicators H2 disclosed in Figs. 31 and 33, which may take the form of dots, squares or other marks. In

case two or more units are overlapped, as is shown in Figs. 32 and 33, the characters and character areas are properly aligned and spaced so that the line of composition will have the correct justification. Figs. 34 and 35 disclose similar use of apertures for spacing and justification except the apertures ill of composing unit H are placed in the handle portion of the composing units. An important feature of this invention comprises the employment of securing means in the matched or registering apertures to hold the overlapping units in place. Figs. 30 and 34 disclose securing devices, such as attachable and detachable pins H6, or the like, which can be inserted through the matched apertures for this purpose. As is indicated, the shank portions ll! of the securing devices may be square or round or have other cross-sectional shape to fit the particular apertures through which it is passed for the purpose of arresting and interlocking the composing units in proper spaced relationship.

The blank spacing units represented by 41, 56 and 81 are formed in the same manner and are aligned and spaced in the same wa; that the character-bearing composing units are employed, the only difference being that the character or body area is left blank.

In summary it will be observed that the character-bearing and spacing members may assume a number of different shapes and sizes and may be placed on the backing or supporting material in various ways. Also, it will be seen that the stop members may be made of rectangular, round or other shaped pieces of metal, paper, fibre or other materials or may be pressed from the backing material itself. It is also within the contemplation of this invention to form the stop members from the backing material itself by cutting slots, slits or other formations and bending the material to intersect the plane of the adjacent indicia-bearing unit. It is also within the conception of this invention to employ appropriate stop or spacing members either formed integrally with the indicia-bearing units or separately thereof which will serve to space and hold securely the adjacent units in aligned position. As is indicated in the drawings, the stop members may be placed on the front or back of the sheet material in various positions such as adjacent to the edges of the indicia-bearing units or within the body portion of the indicia-bearing units. It is also within the contemplation of this invention to provide apertures and cavities and also interlocking means which may be matched to serve in holding the units together and holding them in spaced relationship.

Another important feature of this invention is a means for detaching the characters from their aligning and space adjusting means. After the characters on a group of units have been placed together in an overlapping position and correctly spaced and aligned with relation to each other they can, if desired, be permanently fastened together. This can be done with adhesive or other known fastening means for sheet material. Adhesive substances can be applied to any portion of the overlapping area, such, for example, as the area designated by reference numeral I20 in Figs. 1 and 2, as the units are being placed in the composing of words or other indicia or the overlapping portion of the units can have an adhesive substance placed thereon previous to its being grouped together with other units. The units can also be fastened togetherby stapling or other mechanical fastening devices and a portion of the overlapping sections can be reserved for this purpose.

When the characters are permanently fastened by one or more of the above described methods only a small portion of the composing unit is needed to support them, for which reason 'gether in alignment.

the remainder of the unit with the aligning and adjusting means is of no further use. It is within the contemplation of this invention to remove the unneeded portion by tearing, shearing or other means of detaching and reference lines may be used to guide the detaching operation. It has been found convenient to employ lines of weakness for the purpose of aiding in the detaching of the unneeded portion after the characters have been permanently fastened to- It is contemplated that the lines of weakness may be placed at any desirable place. The use of vertically directed lines of weakness for detaching the handle portion of a. composing unit is disclosed in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 11, 13, 14, 20 and 22. Reference numeral I30 indicates a line of weakness, such, for example, as a line of perforations. Figs. 36 and 37 represent a group of overlapped composing units from which the handle portions have been detached. Horizontally directed lines of weakness Ill may be employed for use in detaching the portion of the composing unit which supports the binary spacing members as is shown in Figs. 17, 19, 28, 29, 31 and 33. The composing units may be used without either the verti-. cally or horizontally directed lines of weakness or they may have either the vertical or horizontal lines or a combination of both.

In references to the indicia placed in the character-bearing area of the composing units, Fig. 50 illustrates an independent surface character without supporting structure excepting the material for making the character visible. A suitable visible material can be "printing ink or transfer ink or any visible material that can be transferred completely or in part from one support to another without destroying the charac ters original contour. Figs. 40 and 41 illustrate an independent character having a raised sur face which is also within the contemplation of this invention. A composing unit formed with raised surfaces can be employed as a type unit and may be used in printing operations tog-ether with printing ink, inked sheets, inked ribbons or the like. Fig-42 discloses the relief character mounted on a suitable background. Figs. 38 and 39 show characters or signs I40 formed on a sheet supporting background Ml separately constructed and adapted for attachment to the area provided on the surface of the composing units. The sheet supporting background ill may be made of paper, card, metal, cellulose derivatives, sheet plastic material, rubber, Cellophane or any like material, opaque or translucent; and it can also be a decalcomania. Figs. 44, 45 and 46 are illustrative of some of the various positions and arrangements of a sign on the background. Fig. 46 represents positioning. the sign in reverse order for producing positive copy by photography or other printing means. Fig. 49 discloses a composing unit suitable for composing a line of inclined signs. This unit is similar to the others except the edge adjacent the inclined sign is formed at an angle.

The characters I40 and background MI, as

Furthermore, the characters together with their backgrounds may be removed and transferred to another supporting surface either individually or collectively after the line of composition has been completed. Fig. 43 shows a blank composing unit havinga handle portion and a character area in which the prefabricated characters may be placed. It will be understood that the arrangemerit of the binary spacing means will vary with the particular area required for the different characters as well as their size and shape.

The composing units made in accordance with this invention may be used in many different ways. The individual units or composed lines of the character-bearing units may be used as display signs or they can be transferred to another supporting surface by photographic means. In addition, the lines of composition may be employed as printing plates when the characters are formed with transfer inks or when printing ink is applied to the lines of composition are formed with characters having raised surfaces. When lines of composition are formed with composing units having removable characters, the characters may be removed and transferred to a different supporting surface and the transferred lines of composition may then be used for purposes requiring composed letters or signs. A plurality of composed lines may be overlapped in the manner shown by Fig. 47 to form a composite sign such as is shown in Fig. 48.

Various modifications and embodiments of my invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and it is my desire that the appended claims shall cover all modifications and arrangements which come within the scope and spirit of my in vention.

What 1' claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

l. A flat composing unit formed of sheet-like material suitable for use in forming composition comprising a sign, a sign supporting area, a

handle portion, a projecting member and a plurality of apertures formed in said composing unit each of which is adapted to receive the project ing member of an adjacent unit whereby the units may be adjustably spaced.

2. A flat composing unit formed of sheet-dike material suitable for use in forming compositions comprising a sign, a binery sign spacing arrangenient comprising apertiu'es positioned in spaced relationship to said sign and members adapted to be inserted and removed from the matched apertures of two overlapping composing units.

3. A fiat sheet-like composing unit suitable for photographic reproduction comprising a sign, a sign area, a handle portion and a sign'spacing means in the form of an element projecting from the flat sheet surface of the said composing unit.

a. A flat sheet-like composing unit comprising a sign portion, an extending handle portion, sign spacing members comprising marks and aper tures fabricated in and on. said extending handle portions.

5. A flat sheet-like composing unit of oblong shape, suitable for photographic reproduction, comprising a sign, a sign portion, an extending handle portion, and sign spacing tabs and slots formed from said handle portion.-

WILLIAM HENRY ROGERS. 

